Beautiful Chaos or just a mess
By Vorie Shorter
Staff Writer
As the dust settles, two out of six of the KATSEYE girls are currently on “hiatus,” with Sophia having plans to return in January and still no word on Manon’s return since Feb. 20. What exactly is going on with KATSEYE? Netflix’s “The Debut: Dream Academy” was a behind-the-scenes making of the global girl group, KATSEYE. Airing between Sept. 1 and Nov. 17, 2023, the show presented fans the opportunity to vote and speculate who'd be the last girls left and the six official members of the debuting group. The final girls standing were Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia, and Yoonchae. KATSEYE was to be dually managed by Hybe, a South Korean label, and Geffen, a subsidiary of western label Universal Music Group. All of the 14 other girls were sent home with varying amounts of screentime and public support but not all of them were done with us. A few girls had minor side quests, and smaller projects using the popularity gained from the Netflix show. Seemingly out of nowhere, Karlee Girl (ranked 18th) dropped “right back!” and it went triple platinum (on X, at least) and was practically inescapable all of last summer. The song currently has over 36 million streams on Spotify alone, with a trending TikTok dance to accompany it. ADÉLA (ranked 20th) was a similar case, but with an even bigger hit. She previously released an EP, “The Provocateur,” receiving murmurs of success, but is currently an up-and-coming “Pop Princess” having released her debut album: “PRIMA.” With standout singles like “Nicole Kidman” and "Ain't In L.A.” having 141 million and 197 million streams respectively, both surpassed KATSEYE’s most recent single “Hootie Fruiti” with 108 million, with the latter being released a month prior. (oh KATSEYE, your crown is slipping!) And all of this occurs while KATSEYE’s fans - dubbed “EYEKONS” - hyper-analyze the girls' interactions, point to potential unspoken “beefs” between the members, desires to upstage one another, and the alleged racism of the company and their treatment of certain members. Simultaneously, netizens reduce the girls’ music to “slop,” with repetitive and sometimes borderline nonsensical lyrics. With the rise of previously disqualified contestants, Karlee Girl and ADÉLA - both of whom are actively dominating the radio waves as solo artists and are fighting for market share - what does this mean for KATSEYE? Is their time running out? Hybe and Geffen are seemingly aware of this online discourse, having released “ICONIC BY MISTAKE” where the KATSEYE girls rap “Now I am iconic from how much you love to hate me.” Using a hate train as a marketing campaign isn't by any means a new tactic, however, it's important to reevaluate: how much of the perceived hate is valid criticism? Despite having recently featured in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, the girls are not in a very good spot right now. Their performance has drawn even further criticism for the girls’ lack of cohesion amongst both the models and themselves. Further, as the remaining four members of KATSEYE are currently on tour, Megan is also reportedly suffering from an ankle sprain and minor back injury, and is going to be selectively present for upcoming performances, so audiences may need to prepare to see three out of six members on some stops. (No, tickets aren’t half off, although they should be.) Will KATSEYE ever catch a break? Only time will tell, but as it stands, what we’re witnessing is not so Beautiful as much as it is Chaos.
